Cole Hamels to call his final Phillies game this season, but it won’t be alongside Tom McCarthy

Cole Hamels’ debut season as a Phillies announcer comes to an end Sunday, but Tom McCarthy won’t be joining him.

Instead, it will be longtime radio voice Scott Franzke filling in for McCarthy, who will be on CBS calling the Week 2 NFL matchup between the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens. John Kruk will round out the broadcast alongside Franzke and Hamels.

While the two have never called a game together, Franzke called all 10 seasons Hamels spent with the Phillies, including his two World Series starts in 2008 and his debut with the team in 2006.

“He’s a good dude,” Franzke said of Hamels. “He’s been a good addition to the room. He’s got a lot of energy, he’s upbeat, and he has a lot of great stories and insights on the game.”

It wasn’t Hamels’ goal to become a broadcaster once his playing days were done. Living in Texas with his wife and five kids, Hamels wanted a baseball job that allowed him to remain close to the game without sacrificing much time away from his family.

He got that with the Phillies, spending just about every other weekend with the team this season as a special adviser, where he’s been able to work with players and learn how the front office works. Broadcasting is just another way for him to share his baseball knowledge with fans.

“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it,” Hamels said. “Everybody in that crew and in that broadcast room are just really good people and fun to be around.”

Not surprisingly, the man nicknamed “Hollywood” has been something of a natural in the eight Phillies games he’s called this season on NBC Sports Philadelphia. Hamels has been open, funny, and hasn’t felt the need to overanalyze every pitch while still finding spots to slide in interesting nuggets.

“I tried to tell myself, ‘Don’t over talk. Don’t be long winded. Don’t just talk to talk,’” Hamels said. “I start watching the game and enjoying it, and I forget sometimes I have to talk.”

A lot of Hamels’ skills were on display last month during a Phillies’ win against the Atlanta Braves. While ribbing the umpires over their shifting strikes zone, Hamels pointed out Atlanta Braves ace Chris Sale threw just one change-up his first time through the Phillies’ lineup so he’d have a new pitch the second time around.

He also needled Kruk by saying Sale’s pitching release was similar to Hall of Famer Randy Johnson, who famously buzzed the former Phillies slugger’s head during the 1993 All-Star Game.

“I think Cole’s got a chance to be really good at this,” McCarthy said. “I get the sense he’s enjoying it.”

That’s not to say he’s been perfect. One thing Hamels admitted he’s struggled with at times is projecting his voice in the booth and drumming up the confidence to talk about a player or a situation. Then there’s the struggle of getting players’ names right.

“I don’t pronounce guys’ names very well, especially when you mix in some Japanese, some German names or some Canadian,” Hamels said. “So I’m very hesitant sometimes when I’m trying to talk about a player, because I’ve got to make sure I mentioned his name right.”

There’s also the obvious need for him to be attentive and alert for nine straight innings, something Hamels didn’t always do as a player when he wasn’t on the mound.

“There are times I would disappear, because it was hard to watch baseball for three and a half hours, before the pitch clock,” Hamels said. “I’d go eat or go lift or do some stretching to just keep myself awake.”

While stopping short of a full commitment, Hamels said it’s “a strong possibility” he’ll be back next season with the Phillies in both rolls, and maybe then he’ll be able to decide which lane to pick — coaching or broadcasting.

“I think this season was more like a crash course,“ Hamels said. ”I think next year will be more fine tuning, and then seeing where things are really setting in to where I fit the best.”

Hamels will see a familiar face on the mound Sunday.

Aaron Nola (4-8, 6.24 ERA), who recently passed Hamels for the third-most strikeouts in Phillies history, is scheduled to start Sunday against Kansas City Royals rookie Noah Cameron (7-7, 3.00 ERA).

After spending three months on the injured list with a sprained ankle and fractured rib, Nola has been up and down the past few months. But he is coming off his best start of the season, pitching six scoreless innings in a win against the New York Mets.

Hamels, who spent time working with Nola and the Phillies’ pitching staff this season, said it’s common after an injury for a player to put too much pressure on themselves in an attempt to live up to everyone’s expectations.

“He’s battling it,” Hamels said. “It’s like he’s still in April form, and it’s just really tough. He still wants to be great, and he knows he can be great. It’s just a matter of getting there.”

If the season were to end today, the Phillies would be the No. 2 seed in the National League, behind only the Milwaukee Brewers (No. 1).

That would be good enough to advance the Phillies directly to the divisional round, where they’d currently face the winner of a wildcard series between the New York Mets (No. 6) and Los Angeles Dodgers (No. 3).

Here’s how the wildcard race in the National League currently shakes out:

This year, TBS will carry the National League playoffs following the wild card round, with Fox once again broadcasting the World Series.

Here’s how the postseason schedule breaks down: